AIDS appears to be a disease which may be due to a viral agent, similar to or the same as the viral agents discussed in my aforementioned copending U.S. Pat. application, which causes specific changes in lymphocyte function. Lymphocytes are known to exist in several different forms. The various forms of lymphocytes can be identified by antigens which these lymphocytes have on their surface. Monoclonal antibodies can be purchased from readily available sources which can identify types of lymphocytes from any particular population. Two such lymphocyte classes are T-Cells and B-Cells. B-Cells are generally responsible for the manufacture of specific antibodies. T-Cells have more variable functions and have been sub-classed into T-helper and T-suppressor cells. It is well known that patients afflicted with AIDS appear to have a viral infestation of the T-helper cells. AIDS thereby results in a gradual diminution in the number of T-helper cells. Additionally, for unknown reason, T-suppressor cells are increased in patients with AIDS.
When the ratio of T-helper to T-suppressor cells is reversed, the patient is less able to mount an immune response to other infectious agents such as Pneumocystis carinii, which is an agent responsible for pneumonia almost exclusively in patients with AIDS or other forms of immune suppression. Immune suppressed patients are also less able to mount a response to cells which have become transformed, which explains the lack of response of AIDS patients suffering from tumors such as Kaposi's sarcoma. Many investigators feel that agents capable of reversing T-helper cell deficiency and diminishing the overgrowth of T-suppressor cells hold promise as ultimate agents in the fight against the virus or agent responsible for AIDS, and various agents which have evidenced some ability to effect a reversal of T-helper deficiency and diminish T-suppressor overgrowth, such as Interferon, have been intensively studied.